Carolina Peace - Effort to Promote Renewable Energy Becomes Radioactive

Effort to Promote Renewable Energy Becomes Radioactive

Written by Leslie Minerd

Friday, 01 February 2008

Last year, the State Senate approved the Energy Efficiency Act (S.360) that would classify a host of energies - solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, hydrogen - as "renewable." This bill also included nuclear power. This created a contradiction within the bill, since uranium and other nuclear fuels are finite in the same way that oil and coal are finite. The bill was passed by the House Agriculture committee on 1/29/08 by a vote of 11 to 5. It will be voted on by the full House on Tuesday, February 5. 2008.

S360, as amended, distorts the original intent of the Energy Efficiency Act: to promote South Carolina's emerging, homegrown energy economy. This bill would effectively crowd out entrepreneurial South Carolinians attempting to break into the renewable marketplace by diverting incentives intended for new small businesses to large corporations. Also, SC would be the only state in the nation to declare nuclear energy a renewable energy resource, once again setting ourselves apart from the rest of the nation in an embarrassing way. By declaring nuclear as renewable, we are also inviting the nation's high level nuclear waste to be dumped in SC under the guise of nuclear fuel reprocessing.

Legislators respond to constituent concerns and you can help impact this debate.
Please contact your legislator and encourage them to keep the focus of the Energy Efficiency Act (S.360) on South Carolina's homegrown, renewable energy sources by:

Stop the bill in its present form by removing all references to nuclear energy from the bill.
Oppose efforts to add language defining nuclear energy as a renewable energy source because uranium and other nuclear fuels are finite resources.

When contacting a Legislator, remember to identify yourself, be polite and to the point. If a Legislator is unavailable by phone, leave a message with a staff person with your name, why you are calling and how you can be contacted. Since the vote will be taking place on Tuesday, you will have to call your legislator at home or work.

To find out who your legislator is, please visit this address

http://www.scstatehouse.net/cgi-bin/zipcodesearch.exe

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